Matthias Walls on the value of the first move

For people how don't know him, Walls is a strong GM who stopped playing chess many years ago and now is back as trainer and probably soon as a chess player too. He was first place in Biel Open in 1989. His best ELO was 2609 in January 1999. I know him from his two books on the Scandi (3...Qa5).

Because he did not follow chess in the last 20 years he changed his repertoire from 1.e4 to 1.c4. Have a look what he writes about the differences between playing 1.e4 and 1.Nf3, 1. d4, and 1.c4. There are several other interesting topics in his website.

http://matthias-wahls.com/40-value-first-move/

The definitive statement on the value of the first move was Yefim Bogoljubov "When I'm White, I win because I'm White, and when I'm Black, I win because I'm Bogoljubov."

Wow!!  That was an absolutely brilliant article.  Yigor will love this.  So I will forward to him your post.  Thanks Torrubirubi for posting!

Yes, that's an interesting article. The author's 54% / 46% benchmark leads to the statistical evaluation sev=(54-46)/46=+0.17 for the initial position which is quite reasonable.

I wrote a (too long?) email to Walls, asking if he could have a look at the website Chessable, where you can train openings / endgames. He did not answer yet, but it would be great if he could get involve on it.

Two things to add: first, his name is of course not Walls but  Wahls (I knew this), and second, he answered already my email. 

The funny thing is he first points out why you shouldn't rely on straight win draw loss statistics, and then he turns around, and does it anyway.

Pretty good article. I like that he's using wisdom as well as statistical interpretation to assess the meaning of the data.

from https://www.chess.com/article/view/alexander-alekhine-part-4-his-prime-years

Alekhine found himself on the podium. Instead of doing the usual “thank you” routine, he said the following: “Last night I had a dream. I had died and found myself at the Pearly Gates, but when I tried to enter I was told by Saint Peter that chess players were not allowed into Heaven! I wandered along the endless fence, hoping to find some other entry point, but it was hopeless. Then, suddenly I saw Bogoljubov on the other side, having a great time! I rushed back to Saint Peter and said, ‘You told me that chess players aren’t allowed in Heaven. But if that is so, why was Bogoljubov allowed in?’ Saint Peter replied, ‘Oh, he only thinks he’s a chess player!’”

The guy is really kind.  He was very thankful that I did some advertisement for his website here and in Chessable, and he offered me a free chess lesson to return the favour. He said he knows Chessable (through Christof Silecki, who published a book on the Benko Gambit there).  And he send me the prices for his lessons and the program he offers.  

I was some years ago a little bit disappointed that he did not publish the planned book on middle game strategy based on the Scandi. Since years I am looking for a whole concept on strategy, tactics and endgames which are relevant for a certain, concrete repertoire. However, I think that training with him certainly would lead to such a concept, as he offers in his program everything what do you need to improve your whole game. The only thing is that I invested a lot already in 1.d4, and I think his main work is on 1.c4 and 1. Nf3 (although there are of course a lot of knowledge that a 1.d4 player can use for other close games).

I spend a lot of time in Chessable, it is the best website to learn openings (and now also endgames).  Today I have to review something like 513 positions! 

We all will probably be allowed in Heaven, I guess 

hi everybody